5.30.2014

The forecast was for rain today but it was one of those on/off sunny/cloudy/rainy days so work had to be done between raindrops.

Jim spent awhile organizing the back of the truck so that he had room to pick up the Bobcat auger.  The shed is really helping by letting him get things off the truck and into the shed.

He spent more time grading and bringing dirt up to fill in around the transformer this morning too.  Before lunch, he spread grass seed on all the rest of this area and raked it in, while I picked up any rocks that came up to the surface during all that.  Then he drives over the area with the Bobcat to get the seed into the ground.

He got all that done in time because after lunch, it started raining a little.  I went on home...this is the area with all the ducks - they hang out in this person's yard so they must be feeding them.  Today I finally got to get a picture of these snowy white ducks - we aren't used to seeing them in Ohio much.

The weather continued to go from thundery to sunny - Jim ended up going down to the barn to pick up his ladder and some other things he needs.  We were hoping to get the auger today but Bobcat said they would charge 2 days if we picked it up on Friday, so we will get it next week some time instead.

Late afternoon update:  Well, we just finished with a short but powerful thunderstorm, complete with crazy torrential downpours, hail and wind.  It's over now but the last few days of work planting grass seed was probably all for naught - it's undoubtedly all washed away.  Jim said that there was some major erosion damage happening on the street - he was driving when this was happening - so we'll have to wait and see.  But pretty depressing when everything looked so pristine.

UGH!!!  The storm didn't last long and as soon as the clouds left, Jim went to the land to assess the damage.  Not good at all.  All the beautifully-graded topsoil washed away (taking all our grass seed with it) and left behind rutted, rocky dirt.

This is behind the turn around that Jim worked a long time on getting it nicely graded.

The skies are now bright blue without a cloud in sight but the quick sudden storm certainly took its toll.  This not only took away all the work over the last few days, it went way backward and now all that damage will have to be repaired before the grass seed can be spread again.

 

5.29.2014

Today Jim started getting ready for the foundation of the meter pedestal he is going to make for the electric meters.  He made the frame for the concrete base and marked out where it will go.

Then he flattened out the area with the excavator.

And put the frame in.  He wants to rent an auger attachment for the Bobcat in the next few days to dig holes for the pylons that will go into the ground for support.  This is just getting ready - when we eventually do concrete in the insulated concrete forms, we will get some to make this pedestal.

At lunchtime, we got brave and decided to call the town building department again to check on the status of our building permit - it's been over 3 weeks!  I talked to the secretary who said he's trying to catch up and there is one house in front of ours.  Ugh - so it hasn't even been touched yet.

Then we went back to grading and cleaning up rocks.  There are a few different stone walls on the property and we would like to eventually restore them all.  So Jim used the excavator and dug a little crevice for the rocks to sit in nicely to repair one of the stone walls that was bulldozed at some point when they cleared the top area.

Then we brought some big rocks that we had for the base. 

Then we just continued picking up the rocks along the edge again - we got that whole area rock free and cleaned up now.  It looks so good!

As I was leaving, one of the wild turkeys on the land was leading the way down the driveway!

Jim met a brick supplier in Saratoga.  We had ordered samples of one of the bricks we are considering for the foundation.  We had a sample board that we picked up when we were down in Albany but the sample is in the bigger utility-size brick that we are looking for.  However, when we compared them, they aren't even close to the same color.  The sample board - and what we liked - is a pretty consistent gray color.  The samples he brought were definitely in the brown family which is what we want to stay away from.  So Jim will call him tomorrow and chat about that.  We seem to be hitting...sorry...brick walls with trying to find this brick.  The other sample we like was from Belden Brick in Amish country, Ohio - we used them on our other house.  We have a contact here and she was getting more samples for us - they were supposed to ship directly to us.  I called and asked about them because it had been awhile - she checked and said they tried to deliver them and couldn't, so they sent them back.  Kind of frustrating!  Hopefully they are trying again and we'll eventually get good samples.

 

5.27.2014

I didn't get a picture of this yesterday...Jim made this little temporary door to help slow down critters from making their home in our little shed.  Jim did some more filling it up with things from the truck to help better organize.  Soon, depending on weather and schedule, our little shed will get a little better roof than a tarp and maybe even a coat of paint to protect it.  Meanwhile, it's earning its keep already.

This afternoon, we decided to do a little yard work.  Jim did some final grading of the area where we dug for the electric line and where we've been picking up rocks along the edge.

Getting ready with the spreader, rake and a giant bag of grass seed.

Jim put down the grass seed...

raked it in with our new giant landscape rake and after a turn with the rake, I picked out all the rocks that the raking brought to the surface.

That went so well that Jim moved to a huge section along the drive coming up the hill and got grass seed over that big area too.  Can't wait for the grass to start growing!

5.26.2014

Happy Memorial Day!

We went out to the land after lunch and Jim got busy building a shelf for storage in the shed.  He built a little shelf in the top to hold some of the scaffolding pieces that are laying on the floor in this picture.

We then hooked the water back up and put it to its first real work task - cleaning all the mud that's been on the poor Bobcat since we started digging!

5.25.2014

Kyle and Julia had to head back to NYC this morning - we got to the Casino a little early and walked around.  They were having a run/bike event that was about over - always something going on around Spa City!  We so appreciated Kyle & Julia coming up to help us with the water - plus it was really good to see them again.

Jim & I headed to church in Saratoga after the bus came but we were a little early for that too.  Across the street is one of the many springs in the area.  The city is famous for its naturally carbonated springs that were thought to have many health benefits.  We took a little sample but couldn't really tell about the carbonation.  There are 17 such springs in the city - you can bring water bottles to fill too, so we'll do that sometime and see if you can tell about the carbonation more.

After lunch, we headed back to work on our little shed in the woods.  Jim & Kyle had gotten some scaffolding set up before they left last night, so then we were able to work on the roof.

It's going to be a simple shed roof with just a little angle to let the water roll off.  Here Jim is setting the rafters into place...

Squaring everything up...

And then it was time for sheathing.

And I got to use the nail gun again on top of the shed - I'm not sure who's more brave - me or Jim!

It started to sprinkle so we just fastened a tarp over the top to keep the water out.

Then we actually started putting some things in to get them out of the weather - yard tools, the power sprayer, scaffolding, etc.

 

5.24.2014 - We Have Water!

Since we got rained out yesterday afternoon while working on the shed project and then it rained pretty hard overnight, we were really worried about the prospects for getting the pump in the well today.  Which would be really bad since Kyle & Julia were taking the bus up from NYC to help us.

Jim headed to the land to get things ready and I went to pick them up at the Casino where the Mega Bus drops off.  The sky was look alternately sunny and dark so we were a little afraid but hopeful.

When we got to the land, we quickly started getting things ready to try and beat the storm.  You can see the ominous clouds in the background here.  Jim is holding the pump in this picture which has to be hooked up to the connection Jim had already made at the end of the water pipe.

Connecting things up...

After that, for the entire length of the pipe (175'), we had to wire tie together the thick insulated wire and safety rope to the water pipe.  In this picture, they are fastening down one of the two torque arresters that help dampen unwanted movement when the pump is activated.  If you look closely, about every 15' Jim put a plastic guide collar just to keep everything centered in the well.  These collars went around the pipe and had spots for the wire and the safety rope to fit into.

Here's the completed pipe all finished. 

Kind of a funny picture...Jim had orange gloves for them to wear when installing the pump to prevent slipping so this was a fashion shot!

Then Jim threaded this long T-pipe onto the end of the pipe at the very end which will be used to help seat the pump into place.

Of course, by this time it is raining.  We can hear thunder and see lightning off in the distance.  It wasn't a drenching rain but enough to make things slippery, which was the fear. 

But we decided to go ahead so the hard part began.  Jim held the pump and Kyle brought up the rear holding the T-pipe.  Julia and I were in the middle pulling and feeding the pipe to Jim.  As you can imagine, once you are feeding this huge pipe system into the well, it becomes very, very heavy.  As we got closer to the end, Julia took up the rear spot and Kyle came to help hold everything up and continue lowering the pump.

Finally it was in and then it just had to be seated.  Success!

Jim then had to make a connection from the end of the wire to a plug.  While he was doing that, Kyle took a file and was filing the rough edges of the well casing so that they didn't cause damage to the wire over time.

The newly wired plug connects to the plug Jim had already made to the assembly in the back of the truck.

Then a hose goes from the assembly in the back of the truck to our outdoor hydrant, and then we connected up a garden hose.

The generator is turned on...

AND WE HAVE WATER!!!

Jim had the controls on the lowest pressure and you can see the force at which it came out.  There is no real odor, no color - Jim had to taste a bit! 

We let it just run for awhile to clean out the system - there was a lot of water down there kind of stagnant for almost a year.  In Ohio, there were specific regulations to follow to get the well ready for drinking water - putting bleach in the well, letting it sit, flushing it.  We'll have to see what the regulations are here but we won't be drinking it at this point.

After we let it run for a bit, we actually had a water quality testing kit that we filled up and will send off for analysis.  It's certainly early but just for curiosity to see what the quality is.

Then the well got all buttoned up.

Thankfully the rain didn't last too long and Kyle wanted to help Jim with the shed for a little while.  So they got the 3rd wall into place.

And then started building the last 2 little walls - leaving room for a door.

Julia even got to try her hand with the nail gun - and did a great job!

Putting up the final walls...

What a great day!  Certainly called for quite a few celebrations!  Since we didn't see Kyle & Julia for his 30th birthday and Mother's Day, we had a belated celebration, complete with an indoor cookout for Memorial Day.

5.23.2014

So today is was back to work on the shed.  When I got to the land, Jim had the first wall built!

Sheathing on the outside of the wall was next...

I even got to practice my nail gun skills...I still need a little more practice!

Then we put the wall into place and braced it.

And it was on to the next wall!

It's looking like a real structure now!

At lunchtime, we had to take another field trip to Lowe's to get a few more pieces that we needed.  Fortunately, we didn't need to take the box truck and were just able to take the 4Runner.

Then it was back to work - and the third wall is built.

We got the sheathing put on the third wall when the rains finally made us stop for the day.  Hopefully it dries up...Kyle & Julia are supposed to come tomorrow!  Kyle is going to help Jim put the pump in the well.